Eternal Flames
by Zafrand
Summary: When Natsu is taken prisoner by the council, Fairy Tail is left looking for answers to prove their nakama's innocence. What they find is a broken prophecy and a dark secret. The clock ticks to Natsu's execution. Can they save him from the council and his predetermined destiny? Or will one claim their favorite Dragon Slayer in the end?
1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note: IMPORTANT PLEASE READ! Ok so this is how it is. This story was published a while back by me, under the same name. However, I took it down after major writer's block and making promises I couldn't keep. After a LONG time of not being able to write, I finally opened the file on my laptop and read over it. At this point, a new idea formed. So, instead of the old story line, Eternal Flames is going to be DIFFERENT after the first chapter. So for those who clicked on this expecting the long awaited return of the old story, I'm sorry but that's not happening. However, I urge you to try this story out. I honestly am surprised at myself. I'm excited to see how this story unfolds as I write it. **

**Well, read and I hope you like. I hope to gather a few new fans by restarting this. This time I won't give up on it. I have big plans and I actually know where the story is going now. So please read and review if you wish (it's always appreciated). I hope I don't disappoint anyone. **

**-Zafrand**

**Eternal Flames**

**Chapter 1: **

**Creature**

* * *

It came without warning. They gave no explanation and showed no mercy. Of course Fairy Tail argued and fought, but the council's word was final. There was nothing they could do.

Erza was on the ground, swords crossed over her neck, barely allowing her to lift her face off the floor of the guild. She strained to see what was going on, feeling the sharp blades cut into her skin, but she ignored them. She was screaming something, but her ears were ringing with rage, making her deaf to even her own words.

Around her, her nakama raged noisily. The weaker and younger of the guild were held back by armed guards, fear for their guild and for themselves keeping them at bay. Some had been beaten and lay silently around the guild. The stronger ones were facing positions similar to the one she was in, having fought until they couldn't anymore.

Gajeel was wounded, blood running down his face from a small gash across his brow and more blood seeping from a deep wound on his side. He was conscious but his eyes were foggy from the pain. The soldiers standing over him held his head to the ground, their shoes and swords planted firmly along his back to keep him still.

Wendy was on her knees, tears running down her face as three blades pointed mercilessly at her throat, ready to strike at any second. Laxus had a device strapped to his chest with a glowing lacama centered over his heart. The stone had absorbed all his magic, making him defenseless and weak. All he could do was lay on the ground, watching the scene unfold in front of him.

Grey was unconscious, a gash over his chest that leaked crimson over the ground. Juvia was kneeling beside him, crying as she tried to stop the bleeding. She also had a device strapped to her, preventing her from using her magic.

Lucy was being held by two soldiers, her keys laying forgotten on the ground. Only Loke had come to her aid, to be forced to the ground as well, blades crossed over him just like Erza.

Master stood, his hands clinched tight, knowing if he attacked, the men would kill his beloved children without a second thought. The soldiers weren't here to take more than one prisoner this time, they would destroy anyone that stood in their way. They had already made that apparent with Grey and Gajeel who both needed to be treated soon. There was nothing he could do but watch as the men wrestled Natsu to the ground, fastening a thick chain around his neck and a device like the one attached to Laxus over his chest. Natsu fought the best he could, but the device was draining his magic fast, weakening him to the strength of a normal man.

"Why are you doing this?" Screamed Makarov one more time. Again the man leading the small army, refused to reply. He just simply turned his back to the guild and walked out of the large double doors. The men closest to him followed, dragging a chained Natsu after them, like some sort of animal. After a while, the men holding down the others, released them with threats that if they followed, they would be killed.

The last soldier to leave, turned, throwing an official scroll at Makarov's feet. The small man, knowing the lies the paper read, didn't even pay it any attention as he watched the soldier leave. There was no excuse for the brutality the council had shown that day. He didn't care what they had to say. He would never forgive them for this.

"Master…" Erza said softly, barely a whisper. He turned to look at her. She was holding her right arm that was covered in blood. Small lines of blood also trickled from cuts on her neck where the swords had dug into her. She was looking at him, her eyes questioning and…possibly…hoping that he would have an answer.

He didn't say anything but let his eyes wander over the guild. Others were staring at him too, hoping, like Erza, that he had some answer for them. His eyes swept over the watching eyes to the injured in their numbers. Wendy had rushed to Grey's side immediately and the wound on his chest was already looking better. He was still unconscious and Juvia sat nearby, tears flooding down her cheeks as she watched the dragon slayer.

Laxus had removed his device and rushed to Gajeel's side to help Mira who was trying to administer first aid to the still bleeding wounds on the dragon slayer. Levy held Gajeel's head on her lap, gently stroking his black hair as tears slipped silently down her cheeks.

He took a couple of deep, shaking breaths, trying to calm the rage in his heart. It didn't stamper it, but his head cleared a bit, allowing his mind to right itself. His guild needed him right now…his children needed him.

"Erza, once the injured can be moved, take them to the infirmary. Jet," He said, calling over to the man who stood nearby Levy, his eyes glazed over as he watched her try to comfort Gajeel. He turned when he heard his name, looking at the master. "I need you to go get Porlyusica. We might need her." Jet stared at him for a moment then nodded slowly. With one last look at Levy, he stepped around Gajeel and ran out the door.

"But Master, Natsu…" Said Erza gently.

Makarov sighed heavily. "Let's care for the ones here right now, then we'll figure out what to do about Natsu." He smiled up at her. "I'm not about to abandon him, Erza, even if I have to break the law."

Erza stared at him for a moment before a smile broke her lips. She nodded once then ran to Wendy to see what she could do to help.

Makarov turned from the guild members and looked at the broken doors. "Just hang in there, Natsu. Your nakama are coming."

* * *

Natsu was thrown hard against the cold ground of the cell, scraping his face and shoulder against the stone. He quickly regained his composure and pulled himself to his feet, turning to his captors as they shut the doors of his cage.

"What did I do?" Natsu asked, flinging himself against the bars of his prison. His hands were bound behind his back, so all he could do was slam his already aching shoulder against the bars, but they held strong.

"You were born." Said the man simply, turning away from him. He stopped, looking over his shoulder at the dragon slayer. "If you want to hate someone, creature, hate your parents for ever giving life to you."

The man disappeared down the long hall and the only light in the dark underground prison faded away, leaving Natsu in complete darkness.

Natsu sighed, turning around and sitting against the back wall of the chamber. He had no problem with darkness. Dragonslayer's senses were all naturally stronger than a normal Mage. His eyes would adapt to the darkness and what he couldn't see, his other senses would tell him. Already he could smell the faint scent of past prisoners hanging in the dank chamber. On the wall beside him hung shackles that smelt strongly of old blood and rust. There was a rag sitting in the far corner of the chamber that matched the old smell floating around him. It must have belonged to whomever had been trapped there before him. However, the smells were old and faint. It had, at least, been months since the person had been there. Natsu didn't want to think about what had happened to them.

His ears strained for any sounds in the cells beside him, but nothing came. There were no other prisoners down there with him. He closed his eyes, leaving his other senses to keep lookout. Like this, he could focus on this thoughts.

During the trip from the guild to his prison, Natsu had demanded to know what crime he had committed. They refused to speak to him. They even sunk so low as to hit him across the face a couple times, leaving him with a split lip and a fist-sized bruise on his left cheek. When he got too rowdy, they began to threaten him with their weapons, holding the blades against his neck until he calmed down.

What bothered him, was the brutality of the men who had captured him. Not only the hits and threats, but they had chained him and towed him through the town like an animal. The chains that locked his arms together had been heavy, often causing him to trip on the long walk. If he lost footing, they would simply drag him until he somehow got back on his feet. If he didn't walk fast enough, they hit and pushed him to speed him up. The long trip had left him covered in multiple scrapes and bruises. Nothing serious, of course, but enough to show how little they cared about his wellbeing. These men weren't normal soldiers. They had different uniforms from any other soldier Natsu had been in contact with before. When gramps had demanded to know who they were, the leader had told him they were "Special Forces". He wouldn't say anything more than that.

More worrisome was the place they had brought him to. Once through Magnolia, the men had wrapped a thick cloth around his eyes and nose. They had made sure the cloth was dipped in something that made Natsu's nose completely useless and forced him to breathe out of his mouth the whole trip. They hadn't removed the cloth until they were deep underground. Even after the cloth was removed, he couldn't smell anything for a while and the skin where the cloth touched, was inflamed and itchy. They had led him down a long dark corridor, making enough rights and lefts to make him dizzy before coming to the correct chamber for him. Only then did they remove the heavy chains, leaving the cuffs around his wrists and the magic draining lacrama attached to his chest.

Natsu sighed heavily. He wasn't sure what the man had met by hating his parents for giving life to him. The man had also called him a "creature". Now Dragon Slayers weren't exactly normal, but to call them creatures was taking it a bit far. He was still a human. His parents were human…or at least he assumed they were. It was ridiculous to think otherwise. What else would they have been?

Natsu shook his head against the thoughts. He had never known his biological parents. He should have had memories of them, but whenever he had tried to remember them, the memories refused to surface. He had asked Igneel about them once before, but the dragon refused to tell him anything. He told him it was for his own good and to put it out of his mind. Only now did he think about those words.

_Were they criminals? _Why would Igneel refuse to tell him anything? And why couldn't he remember even their faces? He wasn't that young when he was taken in by Igneel. He remembered wandering alone in the woods before his adoptive father had found him. Anything before that, however, was blank, non-existent.

He sat in his own thoughts for a while before it came to him. As the words of the man swirled around with Igneel's words, he remembered something. A memory from just before Igneel had disappeared. Something he had forgotten for whatever reason. Perhaps Igneel's disappearance had caused him to bury it. However, there in the darkness, it came.

They had been training like they normally did. This time, though, something went wrong….

_Natsu felt the fire surround his hands as he pulled together his attack. Igneel stood waiting, his tail ready to strike out at him and his neck arched, ready to attack. It wasn't often that Natsu trained with Igneel like this. The dragon was hard to overcome, but this time he had a plan. Something new. _

_With a grin, he ran forward. The attack started normal with his hands, he struck out at the dragon, who easily dodged and blocked the attacks. The fire did nothing against the thick red armor on the top side of his body. To do any damage, Natsu would have to attack either the thinner underbelly area or the back of his head armor right before his neck armor started, a small space protected by long deadly spikes that came out of the head armor. However, for someone skilled enough, it was the perfect spot. However, Natsu wasn't aiming to kill the dragon so the thinner underbelly would do to take down his teacher. _

_Igneel pulled his head around and Natsu could hear the gathering of air in his belly. The dragon paused for only a moment, allowing his body to do the chemical changes to the air, before he heard the valve at the back of his throat open. Natsu dodged the stream of flame that shot out of his maw with ease. Even though fire wouldn't hurt him, Dragonfire burned much hotter and would do damage. In the time after the attack, Igneel took a small moment to recover. That was when Natsu moved. He pulled his fire around his body, coating himself in an armor of flames. _

_As he headed for the right spot on the dragon's body, something happened. All at once, Natsu felt his fire strengthen. Instinctively he tried to calm it back down, but he couldn't. He landed, screaming as the fire spun out of control around him. Then everything went black. _

_Natsu regained consciousness sometime after, but he still felt really tired. His body refused to move and his eyes wouldn't open. He was about to allow himself to go back to sleep when he heard voices talking. _

"_What happened?" Said Igneel's voice somewhere to his right. _

"_The seal broke. He is getting too strong. I've changed the spell to block more of his power. He'll still be able to use his Dragon Slayer magic, but it should hold back his other power." Said the voice of someone he didn't know, not far from Igneel. _

"_Seals won't work forever. He will have to know one day." Said Igneel. _

_The other person, a woman, sighed. "For now, they will work. Let him live, Igneel. He deserves that much. For now, let him live." _

_Natsu wanted to open his eyes and question the woman, but fatigue hung heavy over him. He tried to fight it, but the effort made it worse. Before he could hear more of the conversation, he slipped back into the darkness. _

The next day, Igneel had disappeared.

Natsu let the memory wash over him. Some sort of power. A seal. He had never seen anything on himself like a seal. Whatever it was, it was invisible to him. What was this power? Was it the reason he had been captured? And who was the woman?

Natsu growled in frustration. He wanted to punch something. The memory had only confused him more.

When the frustration and anger finally became too much, he stood up and with all the might he could muster, he slammed into the bars, over and over. He would do this for hours, screaming for someone to answer his questions. Trying, without any luck, to get someone down there to talk to him. The guards would find him the next day, crumpled against the bars, unconscious, his shoulder dislocated and heavily bruised from his assault on the bars.


	2. Chapter 2

**Author's Note: **Hello again! I forgot to mention a couple of things last chapter so I'll tell you now. For one, this story takes place after the Grand Magic Games arc area. I do follow the manga and am completely up to date, so though I can spoil things for people, I don't plan to. The only reason I'm giving you a time frame is so you can understand the age of the characters in the guild when such things come up.

On that note, this is NOT an E.N.D. story! I realized I forgot to specify that after my first reviewer actually asked it flat out. I did actually think about making this an E.N.D. story at one point, so it might have the flare of one, but it's not. Once I get good into the details, you will see the differences pretty quickly.

Ok so this is chapter two. I want to throw out there, that this story is rated T. If for some reason throughout the writing I feel inclined to change that to M, I will inform you all. Just giving fair warning just in case.

Ok so please read and review. Sorry for the long author's note.

-Zafrand

Oh and I forgot to do one of these last chapter so…..**DISCLAIMER: I DO NOT OWN FAIRY TAIL!**

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**Eternal Flames **

**Chapter 2**

**The Cost of Fear**

"THIS IS AN OUTRAGE!" Roared Makarov, his small body shaking uncontrollably as his hands flew through the air emphasizing his fury. "I WON'T LET YOU DO THIS!" He continued, taking a step towards the line of wizards before him.

Immediately, two guards grabbed the man under each arm, throwing him back away from the council members. Makarov landed expertly on his feet, launching himself forward once more, only to meet the points of the guard's blades. He forced himself to stop, his eyes burning with hatred. He ground his teeth against the urge to use his magic, knowing he'd made the situation bad enough already.

Taking a shuttering breath to calm himself, he tried reasoning once again. "Why do this?" He asked, his voice shaking. "He's a good child. He's not a danger to anyone! He's done nothing wrong!"

One of the council members rose, his face downcast, refusing, like all those around him, to meet the eyes of the Fairy Tail master. "Our decision is final. We are done." He said, pushing away from the table and walking out the rear door of the room. The other council members followed suit.

"WE ARE NOT DONE! YOU ARE KILLING AN INNOCENT CHILD!" Screamed Makarov, lunging past the blades only to be grabbed by the guards once more.

His voice echoed through the hall, falling heavily on the ears of the council members as they rushed from the room.

The last one through the door stopped, tears in her eyes as she stole a glance across the hall at the struggling guild master. Her hood was raised so he couldn't see her face, but he heard her voice clearly. "We are doing this to save Fiore. You will thank us." With that she hurried through the door, closing it sharply behind her.

The guards shoved Makarov down the front stairs of the hall, before shutting the doors in his face. The guild master spit at the door before turning around and running down the stairs towards the road. There had to be something he could do.

"I'm going to save you Natsu." He said under his breath as he picked up his pace. "I won't let this happen."

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Porlyusica took a deep breath as she entered into her home. It had been hours since she had been kidnapped by Jett and forced to look after the injured Fairy Tail members. After she had tended to their wounded, she had stayed only long enough to hear Makarov explain exactly what had happened to the Dragneel boy. Makarov had left almost immediately after to go meet face to face with the council.

She sighed, looking out her window at the night sky. "Is it really any of my concern?" She said softly to herself.

Porlyusica looked down at her hand. Between her fingers she clutched the scroll the soldiers had left with Makarov. He'd confided in her the contents of the scroll and made her promise not to mention it to the guild members until he had had a chance to talk with the council. Though, in his rush to do so, he'd left her with the damn paper.

She didn't need to open it to remind herself what was written inside. She might not be a big fan of humans in general, but this was low even for them. The scroll had clearly written on the inside, that Natsu Dragneel would be executed in a week's time. It mentioned nothing concerning a reason or even the possibility of a trial. Just that he would be put to death. Her jaw clinched tight as she crumpled the paper in her hand. What fool had decided that? Sure the kid was a troublemaker, but executed….

She let the paper fall to the ground and stepped on it in her anger. "That boy has risked his own life to save people and those fiends repay him like this!" She hissed, crossing the room to her nightstand. Sitting on top was a small white and silver chest. Without a moment's more hesitation, she touched her finger to the lock. Immediately the chest popped open with a small click. A few seconds after the chest opened, it shook slightly before a small glowing light rose from it, rising to her eye level. The light was white and shapeless, flickering slightly like a small flame.

Porlyusica took a deep breath. This was their only hope. She had to do something. "Lira." She said softly to the light.

For a moment the light did nothing. Then without warning it flared so bright and hot, the old healer took a few steps back in fear of being burned, her arm shielding her eyes.

"Porlyusica?"

Porlyusica smiled at the familiar sounding voice, her arm slowly lowering. In front of her stood a transparent figure of a woman. The woman looked young, maybe her mid-twenties with long wavy red hair and piercing golden-green eyes. She wore a simple black sleeveless top and white pants with bare feet. On her upper right arm circled three solid gold bands, a mark of high authority amongst her people. The skin of her arm delicately disappeared down her arm into a band of red scales that made up her forearm before delicately switching back to skin on the back of her hand. Her long slender hands folded over each other, showing off her sharp, yet delicate-looking nails. Her left arm mimicked the same pattern of scales and skin. On either side of her neck, covering her vital arteries, sat two more patches of thick red scale armor. Porlyusica could also make out a small patch disappearing into the V of her shirt collar and a small peak across the tops of her feet.

Porlyusica met the woman's eyes and she smiled brightly. "It's been a long time, Lira."

The woman nodded. "Indeed, my old friend." She said, her voice soft with a flourish of an accent the old healer had never been able to place. "Why have you called me?"

The healer smiled. Lira always knew when something was amiss. "It's about Dragneel."

Immediately Lira's smile dropped and her eyes narrowed. "Natsu? What happened, Porlyusica?"

Porlyusica took a deep breath before slowly relating what she knew of the story to Lira. When she was finished, she met the woman's eyes sadly. "I didn't know who else to turn to."

Lira nodded. "This is disturbing." She said softly.

"That's an understatement!" Hissed Porlyusica, throwing her hands up and pacing the room. "They are killing the boy for nothing! They won't even give a reason! They've decided he's guilty of something and are executing him for it! It's ludicrous!"

Lira's eyes shut slowly, her hands twisting nervously around each other as she took a deep breath. "I know why they're doing it."

Porlyusica stopped, turning sharply back to the woman. "You do?"

She nodded slowly. "I'm afraid this is the beginning of something terrible, Porlyusica." She bit her bottom lip. "No, we might still be able to prevent it." Her eyes snapped up to meet the old healers. "I can't say anything here. I will send Kaito to you. Take him to Fairy Tail. They might need his help. I will, meanwhile, go to the council myself. Makarov will have little power over this. I, however, might be able to stop it…at least I hope I can." She took a deep breath, her golden-green eyes laced with worry. "I will tell you everything as soon as I can. Thank you for contacting me, my old friend." With that, the image flickered and died like the light of a snuffed out candle.

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Lira waved her hand through the fire, shutting off the conversation with the old healer. She put her face in her hand, taking deep breaths through her fingers.

"It's Natsu, isn't it?" Lira jumped, violently, cursing. There were few people who could sneak up on her. Kaito was one of them. She turned to the man, shooting him an angry look for scaring her.

Kaito was leaning casually against the wall next to her bedroom door. He stood a little taller than her with short spiky black hair dusted with silver across the tips. His deep blue eyes studied her, looking for the details he sought. He shifted, pushing away from the wall, his well-toned arms unfolding and dropping at his side, revealing the silver scales along either forearm that slowly disintegrated into tan skin along the backs of his hands. On his right arm sat three silver bands, the mark of her first in command. He wore a blue muscle shirt and black pants with heavy boots. Light silver scales decorated the area beneath his right eye as well as the sides of his neck, similar to her own scales.

Lira sighed. "Yes, it was about Natsu." She said softly. "The council has taken him prisoner." She glanced up at her first in command, but his blue eyes didn't yield any emotion. "They say they're going to execute him in a week."

Kaito blinked, cocking his head to the right as he considered this. "Well, I guess I'm breaking into a prison, then?"

Lira chuckled with a small smile. "No. I'm going to try to handle this the legal way, first."

"_first" _He repeated with a smirk. "What will you have me do?" He asked in a more serious tone.

"Go to Porlyusica. She's going to take you to Fairy Tail." Lira took a deep breath. "Await instructions there. If…if I can't fix this…"

"…we're breaking into a prison." He finished definitely. "Like hell we're going to let them kill him." He said, one eyebrow raising as she met his eyes again. "There's nothing to worry about. We'll rescue him. Worse come to worse he has to come live here until we can knock some sense into the council members."

Lira sighed. "For my first in command, you really have no idea how politics work."

Kaito chuckled. "Oh, I do. I just don't give a shit. I've lived too long to let some punks push me around."

Lira shook her head but her smile dropped almost instantly, worry filling her eyes once more. Kaito shifted his feet, watching her for a moment.

"There's something else." He said softly.

Lira looked away. It wasn't a question. Kaito was perceptive to say the least. She knew she wouldn't be able to hide it from him for long. Not that she'd been planning to from the beginning, but it was hard to admit she'd never told him in the first place. She trusted him more than anyone but she'd kept something like this from him.

"There's something you need to know." She said, her voice barely a whisper.

Kaito stepped forward, laying his hand gently on her shoulder as he had many times before to reassure her that it was going to be okay. She looked up at him with a sad smile.

"It's…it's Natsu…" She started softly, her voice shaking slightly. "It happened about a month before he was born." She looked down at her hands as they twisted together. Kaito squeezed her shoulder, telling her silently to continue.

She licked her lips and took a deep breath. "It wasn't just me that saw it. Apparently…there were others." She said softly, breaking away from Kaito's grip to walk over to the large bay window across the room. She sat down slowly on the small bench, looking out over the city below. "It came in the form of a prophecy. It was a warning…a warning about Natsu."

Kaito raised his eyebrows. "Why about Natsu?" He said softly, walking forward to stand beside her. "I know his father…well his father was one of us, but his mother…."

Lira smiled sadly. "His mother was something even greater. I knew from day one, but I turned a blind eye for the sake of Isamu's happiness. I did warn him at the beginning of their relationship, worried she'd kept it hidden from him, but" Lira smiled. "She'd told him everything. She'd been completely honest with him from the start. Even knowing the truth, he still loved her. Their love just grew stronger every day."

Kaito nodded. "What was she?"

Lira took a deep breath. "She was the last true phoenix. A living, breathing being of light. One of the true immortals."

"Immortals? But she…."

"Such is the phoenix's curse. Only one can exist at a time. She knew. So did Isamu. To bear a child would mean she would cease to exist." Lira stared out the window, not really seeing the city, but seeing the images from a happier time. "Even knowing this, she was so happy. She lived every day of her pregnancy like any mother would. She treated every day like a gift."

"And the prophecy?"

Lira nodded. "We never expected that. It was a sad twist on an already ugly truth. We knew the day Natsu was born, he would take all of her power and life that remained in her body. She would burn one last time, this time, her flames giving life to a newborn child. That's why there was no doubt in our minds who the prophecy spoke of. I'll never forget its words:

_The child of a dragon_

_born in flame. _

_The blood of a phoenix, _

_the beast, will tame. _

_When light is stolen_

_To darkness he will turn. _

_The phoenix will die_

_And life will burn. _

"I told the prophecy to her, afraid the last line meant her death upon giving birth. I knew the first line was Natsu. There are dragon slayer children born _to _the power of flame, but not _in _flame. Even with our close connection to our elements, our powers don't surface beyond at least a year old."

"_The blood of a phoenix, the beast, will tame." _Said Kaito, reciting the next line. "What _beast?" _

"We still don't know for sure." Said Lira, softly. "The rest of the prophecy hasn't come to pass. Despite my warnings, she went through with the birth of her son. She died as all the phoenixes before her and left a healthy newborn son."

"So, you still aren't sure if the prophecy speaks of Natsu or not?" Asked Kaito, slowly.

Lira shrugged. "There's no other that matches the description. Not even a real dragon offspring has been born. Natsu is the only fire dragon slayer offspring born _in _fire around the time I and three other prophets all heard the exact same prophecy."

"How do you know about the other prophets?"

"Word of mouth mainly. I had the dragons at the time keep an ear out for anything as well as a few select slayers." She said, softly.

"You didn't say anything to me…."

Lira whipped around in time to catch a hurt expression on her friend before he covered it up. She'd expected that, but it still made a pang of guilt spread in her chest. "I couldn't. I didn't want to worry you." She said softly. "I…I know…Isamu's death." She swallowed. "He died a little over a month before Natsu was born. He died before I got the damn prophecy and you…you were in so much pain." She looked down, not wanting to look at Kaito. "He was your best friend. You were like brothers. I couldn't put something like that on you, knowing you were already going through so much. I'm sorry."

Kaito sighed heavily. "It's in the past." He said simply. "What's important now, is what else you know about this prophecy. Obviously you think him being in prison might have an effect on the prophecy."

Lira nodded. "First and foremost _the phoenix will die _can only mean him now. With his mother dead, Natsu is the only living phoenix. He doesn't know it, but it doesn't make it any less true. I protected him for many years by sealing away his power so no one would learn what he was. It appears my efforts were in vain."

"but why would they try to kill the very thing that would cause _life to burn_?" Asked Kaito. "Executing will not solve this problem."

Lira nodded. "I fear they don't have all the prophecy. They know Natsu was born in fire. But they don't realize his death could also possibly be the destructive trigger…or maybe they don't know Natsu is the phoenix. They just know he's a dragon slayer. A fire dragon slayer at that. Maybe they assumed he was the dragon born in flame."

"Or maybe they know he's the phoenix and think his blood is going to tame this _beast _from the prophecy. That would also assume, they have knowledge of a _beast_" Added Kaito. "But whatever reason. I see why you're worried. Without knowing all the details of the prophecy, we could all be in danger."

"I'll go talk to them. Perhaps we can avoid something catastrophic."

"And if that doesn't work?" Asked Kaito, raising an eyebrow at her.

"We break into a prison."

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A young girl sat, staring out her window at the dark night above. In a small voice she began to speak, as she had every night since that day long ago. She didn't know what the words meant, but somewhere in her heart she knew they were important.

"The child of a dragon

born in flame.

The blood of a phoenix,

the beast, will tame.

When light is stolen

To darkness he will turn.

The phoenix will die

And life will burn.

Return the light

Stolen by fear.

Burn the dragon's heart

To dry the phoenix's tear.

The price of blood

Must be paid.

To undo the curse

Evil has laid."

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**Author's Note: **Not my best poetry, but I think it works. Hopefully the information wasn't too confusing in this. If anyone was too confused, perhaps I can smooth things out a bit in later chapters, just let me know. Of course, I'm always willing to answer questions. Though some questions I won't answer because you're going to find them out yourself. Lol.

Please review if you wish and thank you for reading!

-Zafrand


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